Our View: Bad call by NCAA

At first blush, it seemed the NCAA had just voted to begin the process of destroying college athletics, while putting itself out of business, as well.

On second blush, perhaps the NCAA’s Thursday decision to allow “more autonomy” to the already powerful is not quite that draconian, though the potential is there, and we see little in this proposal — it’s not a done deal quite yet — that would benefit the likes of a Bradley or Illinois State University.

Fundamentally, the governing board that presides over college athletics has voted to allow the 65 schools in the nation’s five power conferences to effectively secede from the NCAA and begin writing their own rules regarding scholarships and other benefits, including player access to agents who can get an early start on negotiating those big shoe contracts. If it sounds like the rich getting richer, well, you can be forgiven your skepticism. What prayer do most mid-majors have of getting many a talented athlete if they can have the penthouse suite in the Big Ten compared to the mobile home of the Missouri Valley? The latter is at a competitive disadvantage now because of the massive exposure and resources differential. We don’t see how any unnaturally evolved, institutionalized two-tier system can be perceived as fair.

It’s all about the money, of course. The five major conferences — the Big Ten, the Southeastern, the Pacific 10, the Atlantic Coast and the Big 12 — had threatened to bolt the NCAA and take their cash with them, and this is widely viewed as a pre-emptive strike to appease the renegades and keep at least one hand in the till. Indeed, revenue sharing between the bigs and littles would remain under this proposal, to which we would add, “For now.”

Ours is no defense of the NCAA, with its sometimes petty regulations for regulations’ sake that can exploit these athletes as much as protect them. That’s why lawsuits are being filed against the organization; some may have merit. But it’s also difficult to dismiss the naked greed of the power conferences, which evidently are of the opinion that they’re the ones being persecuted, while pretending that they have only their athletes’ interests at heart, when they have all the leverage and know it.

We’re not sure they’re doing themselves any favors in the long run. Basketball’s March Madness is enormously popular and mind-bogglingly lucrative. But if the power conferences want to do their own thing, well, perhaps their 65 schools can just square off and leave the little guys out of it. Of course, what fun is it watching Goliath vs. Goliath? Where’s the drama? They could end up killing their own golden goose. It’s akin to the self-defeating dismantling of America’s middle class.

Page 2 of 2 - Meanwhile, athletes in non-revenue sports — swimming, track, wrestling, tennis, baseball at most places, many women’s programs, etc. — arguably are being sacrificed here. Let’s face it, the fiscal priorities will be football and basketball, leaving precious little for those already fighting over crumbs. Isn’t the very essence of higher learning to provide more opportunities for young people, not fewer?

Oh, we’re told that schools outside the five conferences can petition their own to opt into this brave new world. We’d suggest that won’t be pragmatic for the vast majority, who from this vantage have little incentive to go along here. Fortunately — and if this proposal has a saving grace — the process is something of a democratic one, with an opportunity for appeal and potentially a vote of all the NCAA’s member bodies. If this flies, well, they’ll have done it to themselves. We just can’t see why they would, unless they’re looking for cover in getting out of the charade that too often describes college athletics anymore.